2010 Ruff Grouse hunting reports-how did you do?

[leech~~]

Sat 10/9 - 2 guys, 1 dog. Up at 4:00am on the road by 4:30, hunting from 7:30 - 6:30, 26 flushed, 9 shots, 4 birds. All were singles, but 2 small groups. It was a beautiful day, maybe even to warm. 1:00 - 4:00 things were real slow for us. Home at 10:30 asleep by 10:35. A long day, but worth it.

gurk, you love to pack a lot into one day don't you!

[TProGuy]

A buddy of mine was out last week in the Hibbing area with his dad, and in 2 days they flushed 50+ birds, and came home with 10 each. Lots of encouraging reports coming in from all over the place...can't wait to get out next week with my buddies for 4 days of chasing birds (and all of the crazy shenanigans at the bar every night, too)!

[leech~~]

A buddy of mine was out last week in the Hibbing area with his dad, and in 2 days they flushed 50+ birds, and came home with 10 each. Lots of encouraging reports coming in from all over the place...can't wait to get out next week with my buddies for 4 days of chasing birds (and all of the crazy shenanigans at the bar every night, too)!

TPro, did they have dogs with them by chance? Seems like really good numbers with or without a dog!

[Harmonica Bear]

There's birds out there, thats for sure. But, I tell you what I could really go for.....

SOME COOLER TEMPS!!!!!!!!!

These hot days are tough on my dog. I really have to shorten my walks and the day when temps get over 60. They are talking about 70 on Saturday for the pheasant opener. Thats more sitting on the deck listening to the gophers weather then hunting weather. IMHO

[TProGuy]

Yeah, they had my buddy's dog along, and a few of the birds were pointed by her, but apparently, a lot of them were spotted running around and across forest roads. They would then pull over, go in after the birds, and several more would flush. I guess there were plenty of birds spotted out walking trails, too, but they didn't do the usual amount of walking due to the warm temps.

[TProGuy]

After reading my last post, I guess saying they "flushed" 50+ birds isn't quite accurate, as it would imply being out walking all of the time....rather they "saw" 50+ birds, with around half of them kicked up while out walking trails. The rest were spotted while driving, then pursued on foot. Either way, coming home with 10 birds each is still an awful good weekend.

I personally haven't seen nearly as many, and hunt in northwestern Crow Wing county. I would say I have been seeing an average of 6-8 birds per day, with 3-4 hours spent on weekend mornings out chasing birds, and the evenings out in a tree looking for deer. I haven't hit the grouse trails nearly as hard as I usually do.

[Matt Breuer]

I doubt "pursued" is the word to use, as there are a TON of young dumb birds out there. Your friends probably had to step out of the truck and "pursue" the lead that was fired into the birds standing there. Trust me, I've done my fair share of the same "pursuing" this season!

I was out for 2 hours yesterday, saw 9 birds, took home 3.

[TProGuy]

Very true, Matt...very true!!!

[Darrell Larson]

Hunting in the Tower area, birds are somewhat educated, they are not spending much time on the roads, and seem to be hanging around the trails off of the roads, walking the trails have been producing more often. The birds have been on the trails but move quickly into the heavy cover once the dog or I are detected. They flush wild and far out, the dog (Chessie) followed one for at least ten minutes the other day before the flush, reminded me of pheasant hunting more than Grouse hunting, still is a thrill when they decide to go, now if I could only hit the little buggers all would be well. Gnats, skeeters, and ticks are still very active here, took three ticks off my four legged buddy the other day, I check her each time we come back, Could really use a very hard freeze to rid us of these. Water in the woods seems to hold more birds, they need H20 just like we do.

Went out this afternoon 4 flushes, score was: Birds 4 Darrell 0. Oh well Thursday is another day.

[brittman]

Plenty of birds seen across MN. Be interesting to see if this is the peak or we can push one more year of highs.

[gurkster]

HaHa - Yeah Leech you know the drill. Have to scratch the itch when I can .

[leech~~]

HaHa - Yeah Leech you know the drill. Have to scratch the itch when I can .

So, this year 3 lakes in 1 1/2 days! LOW, Red & Winn?

[New2TheFly]

Anyone ever hunt Pillsbury state forest? I will be in the area this weekend. I don't have a dog so wondering if its worth trying and if others have luck without a dog?

[Lunker]

Hunted for over a week in Itasca county(Balsam Township). Hunted a couple hours each afternoon in between duck and bowhunts. Myself, my nephew, and the lab. Saw a lot of birds. Not as many as last year, but still a lot and got more adult birds compared to last year shooting a lot of young birds. Probably averaged about 2-3 flushes an hour over the week. The best day I had was in one hour had 12 flushed(managed one that day, ouch). Weather was way too hot, and the ticks were awful(picked 20-50 off the dog each day). Most of the birds were in the typical young aspen adjacent to spruce and jack pine. All were stuffed with clover and a few berries and aspen buds. Would have hunted more/harder but the temps were tough on both dog and hunters. Only flushed one woodcock the whole week.

Oct 3-12 flushes, 1 bird

Oct 4-2 flushes, 1 bird

Oct 5- Forgot to record(no birds, i think 3 flushes)

Oct 6-4 flushes, 2 birds

Oct 7-5 flushes, 1 bird

Oct 11-2 flushes, 1 bird

Oct 12-6 flushes, 2 birds

Oct 13-3 flushes, 1 bird

[CANOPY SAM]

Nice pics Lunk! Got a tip from a friend about a little pocket of birds today. Didn't turn out to be much, but I managed 2 for 2. One ruffie, and one woodcock.

Wish the wind would let up, and the temps would drop a bit.

[Pinusbanksiana]

Limited on grouse and woodcock 3 days in a row.

[NoWiser]

October 16th and 17th, St. Louis County.

Seeing about double the birds as last year in the area we hunt. Spent most of the weekend scouting for deer, but got out for a couple hours to do some bird hunting. The dog showed us some of his best work yet and we spent most of the time chasing points. The doodles were easy to hit, the grouse not so much. Ended up with a few of each, including a beautiful mature ruffie that was pointed by my dog, shot by me, and retrieved by my dad. Its headed to the taxidermist this week. Rough estimate I would say for 4-5 hours of actual bird hunting we probably flushed 12-14 woodcock and 20-30 grouse. What a hoot!

[TylerS]

Well, I've been chomping at the bit since September to get out on some ruffs, and finally got the chance this past weekend.

It was nice to see that all the hype was, for once, granted.

Beautiful weather, plenty of birds, and comparatively few hunters. If not for the handful of deer ticks, I'd consider it a perfect trip.

I started off Thursday evening by hunting some of my grandparents' land. Their 20 acres usually is good for at least one grouse a trip, and I was hoping to get a gimme shot so my 5-month-old GWP, Remy, could get his first ruff. After making it through nearly the whole plot, we scooted through a section and into a small, abandoned gravel pit. Finally, a bird flushes up a hill of pines and I can see it running through the branches. I get a quick shot off as it crests the hill, but I immediately lose sight of it. So I scamper of the hill with dog in tow, only to discover no bird. Then, Remy B-lines it 20 yards down the other side and finds my bird, dead, and hidden behind a log. If not for the dog, I probably wouldn't have found the bird. To put it plainly, I was ecstatic.

We finished off the evening by walking trails close by. They obviously had been hammered, as evident by the number of grouse feathers and carcasses by the entrances. Still, I can't pass these trails up as they often produce birds. In a short time, I came to the first Y in the trail, and took the jaunt to the right, knowing it often held at least a bird or two near the top of the hill. Sure enough, a beautiful red flushes to my left and I make a quick swing shot. Bird down, and Remy gets it a RETRIEVES IT TO HAND perfectly. Could this day get any better?!

We finish off by flushing some more birds, but my shooting quickly deteriorates. I scratch one more bird at the end of the day on the way out of a trail. It was a perfect "clay pigeon" shot, but I still manage to merely wing it. The pup is off in hot pursuit, and eventually brings it back...minus about half its feathers. I guess Remy had a tough time getting the flopping cripple to settle down.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday saw a gradual decrease in bird sightings. I picked up two more Friday morning, but got skunked Friday evening and all day Saturday. Not for lack of chances, mind you, but it seemed that the birds we were seeing either flushed wild way ahead, or off the trail in thick cover. It didn't help that Remy got "bird fever" a couple times and raced down the trail only to accidentally bump a bird well out of range. Oh well, he's only a pup and I had more fun watching him work than shooting birds.

I scratched one more bird Sunday morning, deep on a trail that obviously had been pi$$-pounded since opener as evident by the deep 4-wheeler ruts and myriad of shotgun shell hulls and bird feathers. Still, it looked too good to pass up. As we were getting near the end of the trail, Remy locked up and looked to our right. I immediately see movement a good 30 yards inside some thick pines. A gorgeous, gray grouse steps into a ray of sunlight for a brief second, just long enough for me to get a shot off. It flies, but the dog takes off after it. I'm sure its a miss, but in short order Remy returns with the winged male in his mouth. It was the icing on the cake. If not for a couple missing tail feathers, I most certainly would have gotten the bird mounted.

All in all, it was a great hunting trip. I had plenty of opportunities and saw many birds, but watching my dog work made the hunt. I can honestly say that, since hunting with a dog, I will doubtful do so without one ever again.

Good luck to everyone fortunate enough to get out for the rest of the season! I'm crossing my fingers I can get out at least once more, but this fall is getting packed. If that was my last ruff trip, than another year can't come soon enough! Rationing six grouse for another 365 days is tough.

[brittman]

Continue to see grouse on every walk. Dog work and shooting is improving too.

Leaves pretty much gone on all trees except the oaks.

[setterguy]

Hunted Saturday, moved 19 birds. If you weren't wet you weren't going to see a bird. Everything was low, low, low. If there was still green vegetation around that was even better. Poor scenting conditions, dry air with little wind made it tough.

[brittman]

See my separate thread post about Sunday. Wet conditions were just great for scenting birds.

I have been grouse hunting 4 days in the past 9 days. I would say the birds are in full dispersal mode right now.

Fresh birds compared to earlier in October. More birds flushing up and sitting in trees. More birds on trails. Birds holding better for dogs' points. Still the wild birds around, but they are intermixed with birds that probably have not seen much hunting pressure.

[CRAZYEYES]

There still seems to be no shortage of birds, My dad and I waked for about 2 hours friday night on the way up to shut down the cabin and saw quite a few. A few real dumb ones too. I also saw 4 or 5 while I was walking around putting up tresspassing signs for deer season. One of them sat there looking at me so long I almost threw my hammer at it.

[mixxedbagg]

Any birds left in the Chip? I'm probably going to see if I can't find a virgin trail or two somewhere north of 2 and west of Deer River on Friday.

[tybo]

Hunted Chip over the weekend. Didn't move many grouse SAT am which was disappointing given the great conditions. Did move 6 or 7 woodcock which was nice. Bagged one of them. Moved a few grouse SAT evening and bagged two grpuse between two of us. Moved a good number of birds SUN am. Could have had a few more with better shooting but that's always the case. Still lots of birds out here.

[Huskie]

Can you legally hunt grouse with a shotgun the day before the deer firearms opener?